The B.C. government has stepped in at the 11th hour to fill a void created by the weakened federal Fisheries Act, providing the District of Kent with a series of conditions before it can conduct flood-related excavations in a known hot spot for endangered species.

“The province has done its job,” fish consultant Mike Pearson said Tuesday, giving the federal government a failing grade for its efforts. “I am pleasantly surprised and encouraged.”

He said the conditions under the provincial Water Act relate extensively to fish and fish habitat, which in the past have fallen largely under federal domain, especially in cases of salmon habitat. “I think the province has stepped in to the breach. I certainly applaud them.”

The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations provided The Sun with a copy of its conditions for conducting works on McCallum Slough near Agassiz. The district must, in part: provide a plan to ensure existing environmental features are maintained or enhanced; replant along riparian areas to shore up the banks and reduce in-stream growth; hire a professional biologist to monitor the work; complete in-stream work by Oct. 15 to protect spawning fish.

Kent Mayor John Van Laerhoven was not available for comment.

The district has proposed several works, including the use of an excavator to remove vegetation and sediments, as well as widening McCallum Slough and constructing a new channel, designed to reduce the risk of flooding for local residents.

It also proposed a series of actions to reduce the risk to endangered species such as the Salish Sucker and Oregon spotted frog, including the collection of fish and frogs from the work area, reseeding and covering disturbed areas with straw to reduce erosion. Works crews are already on the scene to conduct initial work.

Coho and chum salmon and cutthroat trout are among other fish species that inhabit the almost 10-kilometre McCallum Slough.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada concluded that the district’s proposal as laid out “will not result in serious harm to fish” under the Fisheries Act and that “no formal approval” is required from the department’s fisheries protection program.

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s administration revised the Fisheries Act in 2013 to prohibit activities resulting in serious harm to fish habitat and fish that are part of a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery. The definition of harm was narrowed to the death of fish or any permanent alteration or destruction of fish habitat.

The revision — opposed by two former Conservative and two former Liberal fisheries ministers — makes it more difficult to protect fish and their habitats. Previously, the Fisheries Act banned any activity that resulted in harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat.

Pearson said that before the changes, the removal of grass and sediment with heavy machinery in McCallum Slough was considered a harmful alteration and required a full authorization and compensation work elsewhere.

“It was handled that way multiple times,” he said.

Pearson, who is based in Agassiz and has extensively studied McCallum Slough, wrote in vain to the federal government arguing that the works proposed by the district “will cause serious, permanent harm to proposed critical habitat for Salish sucker.”

The district earlier proposed flood-related digging on Mountain Slough, downstream of McCallum, but changed its plans following a consultant’s report on best options.